allomother
noun
al·lo·moth·er
ˈa-lə-ˌmə-t͟hər
plural allomothers
: an individual other than the biological mother of an offspring that performs the functions of a mother (as by caring for an infant temporarily)
The allomother suckled the second infant for two and one-half minutes before it was retrieved by its own mother.—
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, The Langurs of Abu: Female and Male Strategies of Reproduction, 1980
… by five months of age, babies spend more time with allomothers than with their own mother …—
Claudia R. Valeggia, in Substitute Parents: Biological and Social Perspectives on Alloparenting, 2009
allomother
verb, transitive + intransitive
allomothers; allomothered; allomothering
… older sisters are readily available to allomother their younger siblings …
—
Bernard Chapais, in Cooperation in Primates and Humans: Mechanisms and Evolution, 2006
Among elephants, allomothering practice did not appear to compensate for direct experience with an offspring.
—
Phyllis C. Lee, Animal Behaviour, February 1987
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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